FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2016, file photo, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., campaigns in Villanova, Pa. Sen. Toomey is turning to the target of some of his toughest criticism to help him in his life-or-death re-election bid in Democratic-leaning Pennsylvania: President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is going back to the U.S. Senate for a second term after defying a registration deficit in Democratic-leaning Pennsylvania with the help of a wave of unexpected support for GOP President-elect Donald Trump.

He’d also made a carefully crafted appeal to suburban swing voters.

Toomey’s 2 percentage-point victory over Democrat Katie McGinty also helped Republicans keep control of the Senate. The fiscal hawk had been one of the most vulnerable Republican senators running for re-election.

The often-ugly race smashed U.S. Senate campaign finance records, with spending on it passing $160 million.

Toomey won by a slightly wider margin than Trump’s 1 percentage-point victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.